Meet The Democrats Who Will Decide Whether The GOP Wins The Tax Cut Fight

Congressional Quarterly/Newscom

By Brian Beutler

September 20, 2010 12:36 pm

Updated Sept. 22, 4:58 p.m.

Republicans want to prevent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from making Republicans go out on a limb for the wealthiest Americans just so close to November. With only weeks to go before the election, they’re putting dozens of House Democrats on the spot, demanding a single vote on extending all of the Bush tax cuts — including the tax cuts that solely benefit the wealthiest Americans.

The GOP pressure might make some Democrats cave, and will certainly make others hide from questions about the Bush tax cuts. But unless Pelosi plays hardball on tax cuts, it’s these Democrats who will decide whether the wealthiest Americans get to keep all of their tax cuts.Below is a list of 50 Democrats. Many of them are already on the record backing an extension of the top-bracket tax cuts. We’ve marked them with an “L” to indicate that they’ve signed a letter to Pelosi asking for all the Bush tax cuts to be extended.

Others are Democrats who might, based on their voting records or their current political vulnerabilities, break with leadership on this issue. (For instance, we’ve marked Blue Dogs “BD”). Some of these members will no doubt side with Pelosi. Others not listed here might surprise us and side with the GOP. The list is not meant to be a perfect summary of Dem fence-sitters and tax cut proponents. It’s to demonstrate that Pelosi has a lot of whipping to do if she’s going to win the tax cut fight on straight up or down votes.

We’ll update this list as the tax cut fight continues and the line dividing the Democrats comes into greater focus.

Representative

State

OppositionMarker

Update

John Adler

New Jersey

Jason Altmire

Pennsylvania

L, BD

Michael Arcuri

New York

BD

John Barrow

Georgia

L, BD

Melissa Bean

Illinois

L

Sept. 22 — A Bean spokesman told TPM today that she would not comment beyond what is in the letter until the leadership has presented a plan.

Marion Berry

Arkansas

BD

Sanford Bishop

Georgia

L, BD

Dan Boren

Oklahoma

L, BD

Leonard Boswell

Iowa

BD

Rick Boucher

Virginia

L

Allen Boyd

Florida

L, BD

Bobby Bright

Alabama

BD

Ben Chandler

Kentucky

BD

Sept. 22 — Chandler told constituents he wants the cuts extended for every income bracket, at least temporarily. He said he would vote for the middle class only cuts if that’s what leadership presents for a floor vote.

Travis Childers

Mississippi

L, BD

Gerry Connolly

Virginia

Sept. 22 — A Connolly spokesman told TPM today that he has not changed his position he’s held since 2009. Connolly wants to extend all of the cuts temporarily for at least one year. Connolly wants a vote on the cuts before the election. The spokesman would not answer a hypothetical on what he’d vote for if the leadership doesn’t give him the option he prefers.

Jim Cooper

Tennessee

L, BD

Jim Costa

California

L, BD

Henry Cuellar

Texas

BD

Kathy Dahlkemper

Pennsylvania

BD

Lincoln Davis

Tennessee

L, BD

Joe Donnelly

Indiana

L, BD

Chet Edwards

Texas

Brad Ellsworth

Indiana

L, BD

Sept. 22 — Ellsworth appeared on Fox News to advocate his plan to extend all of the tax cuts. He said he wants to see a vote before recess. “We should pass those directly, and we should do it before we go home, before we recess,” Ellsworth said. “If we get it off the table it’s one less thing we have to talk about going into November.”

Gabrielle Giffords

Arizona

BD

Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin

South Dakota

L, BD

Sept. 22 — A Herseth-Sandlin spokeswoman told TPM they would not comment on any hypotheticals, adding, “I think her stamp on that letter is pretty self explanatory.”